Various hip surgery techniques are used for repairing or replacing various bone structure in the pelvic and upper thigh regions of the human anatomy. Such surgery normally requires some incision of the muscle and tendon tissue adjacent to the pelvis such that the bone structure surrounded by such tissue may be accessed for replacement and/or repair. The muscle and tendon tissue not only facilitates movement of the skeletal hip structure but also assist in holding the femur or thigh bone within the pelvic socket.
During recovery, the muscle and tendon tissue will be substantially weakened and not completely effective in retaining the femur within the pelvic socket. Accordingly, it is common for patient's recovering from hip surgery to inadvertently move the thigh and dislocate the femur from the pelvic socket. Certain movements of the thigh will not cause dislocation and thus the patient should not be completely immobilized in most circumstances to allow some exercise of the healing muscles and tendons and to accommodate some mobility by the patient. Thigh movements commonly known to cause dislocation of the femur are the exaggerated flexion of the hip (i.e. pivoting the thigh forwardly toward the chest), adduction of the thigh toward the other leg and a combination of flexion and adduction such as crossing one leg over the other.
Several apparatus are available that prevent the movement of the thigh to such potentially damaging positions. Examples of such apparatus are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,941 issued to Rolfes; U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,710 issued to Meyer and U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,678 issued to Cumins et al. Rolfes and Cumins et al disclose a waist engaging member and a thigh engaging member having a rigid bar connected intermediate thereto that secures the thigh relative to the hip. The rigid bar has an adjustable pivotal member connected thereto to permit limited flexion of the hip. The rigid bar in Cumins et al is further designed to bias the thigh laterally and thus restrict adduction thereof. Meyer discloses a waist engaging member and thigh engaging members having a rigid frame fixably connected to the thigh engaging member and pivotally connected to the waist engaging member. The rigid frame is bent such that flexion of the hip will urge the thigh laterally.
Though Rolfes, Meyer and Cumins et al may allegedly limit the motion of the patient's thigh, a patient using the aforestated devices may be unnecessarily restrained by the overly rigid construction of such devices if the patient's hip surgery was minor or the patient is in a late stage of recovery. Even in the early stages of recovery, lighter, less bulky restraints for limiting hip motion would be advantageous to a recovering patient by limiting the weight the patient must carry. More importantly, some of these rigid devices actually promote injury to the patient while the leg is being manipulated to attach or remove the device. Further, the bulky apparatus disclosed in Rolfes, Meyer and Cumins et al would most likely have to be worn over a patient's clothes whereas a lightweight restraint designed to fit close to the patient's body would fit beneath a patient's clothes and thus facilitate a more secure grip of the patient's thigh and waist.